Am off now until the beginning of February. My next roster is ok, not the destinations i requested, but all in all, not bad at all.
On Monday night, we drove over to Woking to see Hairspray at the theatre. I had no idea what it was about, just knew that Michael Ball had played a part in the West End show. I have to say it was fantastic! A really lively, feel good, show. It made me want to start singing again. Very much recommended (the show, not my singing).
Spent yesterday, scraping out the soiled muck from the chicken runs and topping up with nice fluffy bedding, that will be covered in poop in a matter of days. The girls seemed to be enjoying themselves, scratching around the veggie garden to stop them getting under my feet. Pru hasn't laid any eggs since the 3 at the beginning of the month. Bright red comb, but still no sign of eggs. Elsbeth crouched down in front of me yesterday, a sure sign that she is thinking of laying again soon. Fingers crossed.
I also managed to get a bit of gardening done. Nothing like getting your hands in fresh compost and planting some seeds. I have decided to plan my garden more carefully this year (time permitting)......We always end up with a glut of something or other, so successional planting is the term this year! Just remembering to plant a few seeds every few weeks. I went to the local garden centre to get a new broom and some netting (to stop the cat that has moved in behind our house) and couldn't resist some seeds!
Broad beans, pak choi, purple beans, swiss chard and curly kale - lots of which will be for the hens. I have to plant it early or by August I have forgotten. I am after large established plants that will survive the winter this year. Daft, but packets of seeds make me smile. Dried up little things, that burst into life and feed us. Amazing really.
I found my little wooden plant pot maker in the shed, dusted it off and got to work. I found The Independent makes superb pots, but any paper will do *wink*
Broad beans are now sown and in the green house.
The green house hasn't faired to well over winter and the zip is broken. It won't cost much to replace, but it annoys me as I only bought it last year. I still have the fleece cover, so might make do with that this year. I need to rebuild the cold frame (I say rebuild, it is only stacked up bricks), as I have used most of the bricks as supports for the hens' drinkers and a few other jobs.
After many hours of sewing (and unpicking)!!, the table runner is done! I really like it and think it brightens up the wooden coffee table. I think Jase is worried that the house will turn into a gingham patchwork nightmare, but it looks good where it is.
Been quite a good week so far. Apart from my newly discovered Ritz cracker addiction. To add to the other addictions......just something about them, They are so tempting. Especially with Waitrose crab pate......
Jase celebrated his birthday last week and got the Wagamama cookbook. I have been to the restaurant a couple of times and love it, so today I went shopping and bought all the ingredients for my favourite meal. Amai Udon noodles. Took minutes to prepare and was absolutely delish. I am not one for following recipe books, always adding a few bits and pieces, but it tasted exactly like the restaurant.
Loads of pak choi, mange tout, savoy cabbage (instead of the leeks as per the recipe), with tofu pieces and king prawns. Topped with a handful of dry roasted peanuts and a squeeze of lime.....mmmmm nom nom nom. Reasonably healthy too I think*.
*Not including the Ritz crackers I had as a starter.
The temperature has dropped again and we are due a ground frost overnight. Hens are locked up tight in their eglu and happy. I plan to start worming them tomorrow, as I haven't done it for nearly 4 months. They don't seem to be affected but that could explain the lack of eggs. A week of medicated pellets and they will be done for a while.
Fire is lit, The Day After Tomorrow on the dvd player, you can't beat a good disaster movie. A small bar of Green & Blacks extra dark chocolate consumed, for health reasons you understand.
A mega list of jobs to do this week, as always, but nothing too pressing. I want to start on my next patchwork quilt for the spare room, but am patchworked out. Something else will pop into my head no doubt and I'll crack on with that.
Time to get back to the dvd and the end of the world as we know it......
TTFN,
C x x x
Hi Christian,
ReplyDeleteNice to have a few days off, but sounds like you have plenty to do!
Just wondering what you worm your hens with, I've found it difficult to get something that is easy to mix up for a small number of hens, and ours are due again now as well.
Don't work too hard!
Charlotte
Hi Charlotte!
ReplyDeleteI use Flubenvet 2.5%. I weigh out 2 kilos of pellets and then remove a small amount from that. Mix1/4 tsp from the amount you remove and add that to half the pellets. Tip into an old pellet sack. Then remove another small amount from the kilo or so left, add 1/4 tsp and mix again. Takes a bit of time, but works well. I use two very large mixing bowls. You can now buy smaller packs of Flubenvet at a lower dosage (1% I think) but it works out really expensive. The 2.5% is around £20 but will l